The 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator

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The 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator

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March 28 2007 In terms of non-nuclear bombs, we’ve seen some doozies in the last 50 years, such as the Daisycutter (the 15,000 pound BLU-82 bomb designed originally to create jungle clearings in Vietnam with a lethality radius of 300 meters) and the aptly nicknamed 30 ft long, 21,000 pound MOAB (Mother Of All Bombs), the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed. Now, there is to be a new mega-bomb, the Boeing-developed, precision-guided 30,000 lb Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is designed specifically to attack hardened concrete bunkers and tunnel facilities and testing is underway.

The 20 feet long MOP is a technology demonstration program funded by DTRA to develop a 30,000-pound conventional penetrating weapon that will defeat a specialized set of hard and deeply buried targets. Designed to be carried aboard B-2 and B-52 bombers and deployed at high altitudes, the MOP's innovative design features include a Global Positioning System navigation system and more than 5,300 pounds of explosives.

The Boeing-developed Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) successfully completed a static tunnel lethality test March 14 at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) weapons tunnel complex at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

"The weapon's effectiveness against hard and deeply buried targets allows the warfighter to hold adversaries' most highly valued military facilities at risk, especially those protecting weapons of mass destruction," said Bob McClurg, Boeing Advanced Systems MOP program manager.

Excellent further reading on the subject at GlobalSecurity